Promoting Diversity & Personality w/ María del Yerro and Enrique Valero, Grandes Pagos de España

With the aim of safeguarding the wines of personality from special vineyards (or “pagos”) from across Spain, the Grandes Pagos de España is a private group of wineries on the forefront of Spanish wine. President María del Yerro, of Alonso del Yerro, and VP Enrique Valero, CEO of Abadía Retuerta, discuss the history, objectives, how to join, and their new Terroir Workshop Series.

Detailed Show Notes:

María’s background - was a translator, husband took over family winery in Rioja, 2002 - bought a 56ha vineyard and started Alonso del Yerro

Enrique’s background - worked at Diageo and Gonzales Byass, became CEO of Abadía Retuerta

Grandes Pagos de España (“GPE”) history

2000 - 5 wineries established Grand Pagos de Castilla
2003 - included other wineries from Spain and renamed to GPE
35 wineries, all single vineyards
Pago is defined like “terroir”, a vineyard with different characteristics
Common Goal: produce exceptional wines that reflect unique terroir
Inspired by VDP and French concept of Grand Cru, but adapted to Spanish context

Goals & Objectives of GPE

Promote and safeguard “diversity and personality” of wines
Foster research and innovation
Conduct educational and promotional activities

Criteria for joining

Most wineries apply to be a member
Criteria - single vineyard, 100% estate fruit, min 5 years of internationally recognized quality, must pass internal tasting committee that assesses the personality of the vineyard
Most vineyards ~50-75ha
Some wineries may produce wines that are not Grand Pagos

Member benefits and requirements

Fees based on quota system by # of bottles produced (3 levels - <40k, 40-150k, >150k bottles), no winery is >500k bottles
Networking w/ other wineries; e.g. - winemakers meet 2x / year to share learnings
Promotion of wines domestically & internationally (e.g. - wine fairs, education)
No logo on label

Priority markets

Spain is the primary market
4 international focuses - USA (include for broader influence of press and blogs), Mexico, UK, Switzerland

GPE wines at least 4-5x more expensive than avg price of Spanish wine (~$40-300/bottle in the US)

Wine tourism program - many GPE wineries will showcase other GPE wineries in their tastings

KPIs for GPE include # of people at events, PR/comms results, results of last 10 years of new applicant tastings

Marketing GPE

Building CRM of trade / sommeliers from tastings to keep in touch
Partner w/ wine influencers, somms, other associations
Highest impact initiatives: US - big tastings; Spain - tastings w/ somms

Launching a new Terroir Workshop Series

Main push for the next 3-5 years
Global education program for concept of pagos and 35 GPE wineries
Starting in US, Mexico
3 brand ambassadors chosen and trained - help bring a 3rd party voice and local perspective on GPE
Partnered w/ Gregory + Vine - helped clarify messaging and identified brand ambassadors
Designed primarily for wine trade

Next priorities for GPE